¹⁷ Then Manoah inquired of the angel of the Lord, “What is your name,^(A) so that we may honor you when your word comes true?”

¹⁸ He replied, “Why do you ask my name?^(B) It is beyond understanding.^[a]”

¹⁸ No one has ever seen God,^(A) but the one and only Son, who is himself God and^[a](B) is in closest relationship with the Father, has made him known.

⁴⁶ No one has seen the Father except the one who is from God;^(A) only he has seen the Father.

¹⁹ Then they asked him, “Where is your father?”

“You do not know me or my Father,”^(A) Jesus replied. “If you knew me, you would know my Father also.”^(B)

The Supremacy of the Son of God

¹⁵ The Son is the image^(A) of the invisible God,^(B) the firstborn^(C) over all creation.

¹⁵ which God will bring about in his own time^(A)—God, the blessed^(B) and only Ruler,^(C) the King of kings and Lord of lords,^{(D) 16} who alone is immortal^(E) and who lives in unapproachable light,^(F) whom no one has seen or can see.^(G) To him be honor and might forever. Amen.^(H)

Reasons for Writing

On Not Loving the World

¹⁵ Do not love the world or anything in the world.^(L) If anyone loves the world, love for the Father^[a] is not in them.^{(M) 16} For everything in the world—the lust of the flesh,^(N) the lust of the eyes,^(O) and the pride of life—comes not from the Father but from the world. ¹⁷ The world and its desires pass away,^(P) but whoever does the will of God^(Q) lives forever.

¹² No one has ever seen God;^(A) but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.^(B)